latinreefer
New member
SWC Xtreme or Reef Dynamic. Need to upgrade but not sure which one is better or more recommended. :hammer:
Which skimmer would you recommend?
- Thread starter latinreefer
- Start date
Nuff Already
New member
I like the reef octopus line with bubble blaster pumps. If you have a truly large tank, I think a Beckett or downdraft makes sense.
Edward Smith
Active member
What size is your system?
ArminTamzarian
New member
i-Tech
Dre59
Z&P Addict from IL
+1
badazztealcobra
New member
Nine million variables here.......
What version of each of those skimmer were you thinking ???
What size system ???
What size bio-load ???
What kind of budget ???
Internal or external ???
The list goes on and on.........
What version of each of those skimmer were you thinking ???
What size system ???
What size bio-load ???
What kind of budget ???
Internal or external ???
The list goes on and on.........
Nuff Already
New member
No matter what you decide to do, the sicce psk2500 pump used by SWC is troublesome.
badazztealcobra
New member
Complete generalization. I had a MSX250 with (2) psk2500's on it and the thing was an absolute beast and I never had an issue with it.... When properly setup and maintained there should be no problems with a sicce pump'ed skimmer.
Even after adding the extended cup and an extra layer of mesh to get even more bubbles:
I used the MSX250 for over a year without a hiccup, and my brother is currently running a SWC160 Cone for about a year and has zero problems with it either....
ostrow
It's Dr. Goodluck Himself
Doug (badazz) is spot-on in both of his posts in this thread.
Not enough information to answer the question you ask, and the comment on the Sicces is far too generalized. Those pumps, properly set up, are fantastic. Though I hear rave reviews of the new ATI skimmer pumps.
Not enough information to answer the question you ask, and the comment on the Sicces is far too generalized. Those pumps, properly set up, are fantastic. Though I hear rave reviews of the new ATI skimmer pumps.
Nuff Already
New member
Sicce psk2500 was never designed to run with a pinwheel impeller. It does work and works rather well but it is troublesome. Obviously not every psk2500 will breakdown. Experience with three pumps is not a large enough sample to indicate anything. Heck, I know somebody who drove a Yugo for years. He said it was a great car. I suppose if I said Yugo was a junk he would have said that it was a complete generalization.
latinreefer
New member
Sorry for lack of info:
120 gal
Prefer internal
small bio load
$300 budget
Thanks everyone for imput !!!
120 gal
Prefer internal
small bio load
$300 budget
Thanks everyone for imput !!!
latinreefer
New member
Want to start with LPS and little SPS Coral eventually
latinreefer
New member
Anyone ever use the Reef Dynamic protein skimmer? LFS claims to be one of the best.
badazztealcobra
New member
And your experience with them is how many ?!?!? Just because I've owned three doesn't tell the entire story. I've meshed dozens of them for people, I've swapped out pinwheels for people, etc....
So you say it works, and works well but is "troublesome". So what makes it "troublesome" in your opinion ???
IMO, a properly setup and maintained sicce pump will last a very long time, work very well and do so while not consuming a lot of power.
They have sold THOUSANDS of those pumps to be used on skimmers. If they were that bad would ATI, ATB, SWC, Reef Octopus, etc. have used them and or variations of them ???
Nuff Already
New member
The skimmers are well made. However, there are better pumps than Sedras that they use. And by the way, I hear the newer sicces, 600 and 1000, no longer have the start up issues. A reef octopus rep actually recommended an ocean runner model over their sicce psk2500 one.
Nuff Already
New member
They sold thousands because they performed very well. Heck I wanted one. But it is also known fact that those pumps are prone to startup problems. It is my understanding that Reef Octopus's OTP pumps (Ocean Runner) experience much lower failure rate than Sicce 2500s. I decided against buying one because of that reason. And you are right, I've not owned one.
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badazztealcobra
New member
If your budget is around $300 and you don't mind a used skimmer I would go that route. You can find killer deals on used equipment lately, and you'll possibly get a much nicer skimmer for the money going that route....
Most of the decent Octopus skimmers for your size would end up being around $350 or so....
Most of the decent Octopus skimmers for your size would end up being around $350 or so....
